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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Bamboo or blinds?

The week after we moved into our house more than six years ago, my awesome Dad came by one day and helped install two-inch faux blinds on pretty much every. single. window. I mean, there’s only so long you can live with sheets over the windows, right? :)

But over the past few years, I have fallen in love with the warmth and texture of bamboo roman shades. And I have now replaced every single blind that my Dad hung for us. (Insert sorry-Dad-I-love-you-so-much face here.)

It’s taken about THREE years, but I was trying to be not spend all that cash to replace every one of them at once, delay my gratification, be mature, WHATEVER. :)

I get questions about our bamboo shades all of the time, so I figured I would address them all in one post. There a pros and cons to these beauties.

One of the pros is the ease of installation. I’m not kidding when I say this – if you know how to use a drill, you can install one in about five minutes.

You just measure how far out from the window you want the shades to hang (make sure it’s the same for both sides), then screw them in:

My handy dandy dollar spot pencils from Target were the perfect measuring stick! :) You shouldn’t need to use anchors, since there are usually studs framing out the window where the brackets go in. If you’re in doubt, use a stud finder or drill a test hole to see what’s up in there.

You can see, I don’t screw into each hole in the bracket – there’s just no need to. But if you are a just for good measure kind of person, go for it! :)

(If you do need anchors, you’ll want to mark the holes first, then install the anchors, then screw the bracket in.)

After the two brackets are installed, all you do is slip the shade up into place, then secure it with the wing nuts:

If you are installing these on your own, you may need to perform some fun stunts like holding the shade up with your head while you screw in the wing nuts. :)

I have one of these handy dandy wrappy things by each window, behind the drapes:

I like having the cords wound up for safety reasons. (Now most of these shades come with tools to safely keep the cords out of the way.)

Our living room had the last set of blinds to replace, and I worked on them last weekend. For years we had the blinds and some ironwork hanging in the windows:

I saw the idea for the ironwork on Rate My Space and loved it, so I recreated it myself with some clearanced iron snowflakes from Pier 1. I spray painted them black, and for years tried to convince myself that they didn’t look like snowflakes.

Well. They did. :)

I cut down the snowflakesironwork snowflakes last week (they were hung with fishing wire) and installed the new bamboo shades:

(Sorry so dark -- it went from sunny and beautiful to overcast with zero light in the two seconds it took for me to get to the room and take the picture. Awesome.)

I have three different colors of these shades throughout our house, but this lighter, natural tone is on most of the windows:

OK, OK, I know the paint color, window treatments, light fixture, all that goodness kind of transforms the room just a teeeeeny bit, but I think the shades warm it up quite a bit as well. :)

LURVE!!

Let me be clear, I love two inch white blinds. I think they are classic and traditional and all things ME. But once the first set of bamboo went up, I was hooked.

The Bub’s nursery had blinds up for years, which looked fantastic with all of the white molding:

But the natural look of the bamboo shades in his big boy room just floats. my. boat:

Speaking of the Bub’s room – the only reason I hesitated with bamboo shades at first was the whole privacy and light issue. I’m a Mom, and any Mom knows the kiddo’s bedroom needs to stay nice and dark and cozy as long as possible during naptime and in the wee hours of the morning. And it needs to block the blinding sun that comes in at 9 p.m. in the summer. ;)

Our son’s favorite line at bedtime for the last three months:

“But it’s not dark out!!”

Smarty.

Anyhoo, there’s two things I’ve found to help with these issues. One is finding a really tightly woven shade, like those in our bedroom:

The are so dense, you can barely see the light coming in, even on the brightest mornings. Awwwwww yeah baby! I am a sleeper, so bright summer mornings are the bane of my existence. All bright and cheery and whatev…I’m trying to sleep!

:)

Another way to keep light out is to install a privacy shade behind the bamboo shade:

The only place I’ve found these is Lowe’s, and they sell them for all different sized shades. They are pretty easy to attach – you just lay them on the back of the shade, Velcro them to the top, then attach them using these plastic jobbies:

I am oh-so-technical today. ;)

I’ve installed these on a few of our windows and they do the trick. The privacy shades are about $22 for our size windows, but some are less, some are more.

These liners will also help prevent an issue we’ve had with the bamboo shades in the playroom:

Do you see the stripes from the sun? :) Because these don’t offer a ton of privacy, they are pulled up most of the time and the sun has bleached them out.

These were the cheapest I’ve found, and you can see why. :) I got this set at Target, and they were SO inexpensive – I think about $10 each?

My very favorite set of bamboo shades is in our family room. I got them from Target a couple years ago:

You can see a hint of the warming up I’m working on in here – I’m obsessed with it, I love it so very much. Gleeeee! More on that soon. :)

Here’s how the blinds looked in that room:

And the after, with all of their lovely texture and warmth:

They work for all seasons – in the warmer months, the natural tones work perfectly. In the cooler months they just ooooze cozy. Yum.

I’ve bought our shades from three stores over the years – Home Depot (they clearance them out a couple times a year), Lowe’s (they sell the privacy liners as well), and Target. I’m bumming because I can’t find them at our Target store anymore, and they had the prettiest color I’ve found (in the family room above). For the most part they run about $30 to $35.

The pros to bamboo shades:

- They look great! (Oh wait, I said that. About 50 times.)

- With a tightly woven shade, combined with a liner, they let way less sun in a room (even our tightly closed blinds still let light through, turned either up or down.)

- Bamboo shades are less expensive than the faux (two inch) blinds, and WAY cheaper than the real wood blinds. :)

- They are much easier to clean! No slats covered with dust!

The cons:

- Blinds provide better privacy.

- There’s no “in between” with bamboo shades -- with blinds you can open the slats just a bit and control the amount of light. I found I was a wide open or shut kind of person anyway – I either had the blinds pulled all the way up or down.

- I imagine, over time and without a liner, the bamboo will become brittle from sun exposure. I don’t know this for sure though – I’ve had some of ours for about three years and haven’t had any issues with this.

I hope that answers all of your questions about the lovely bamboo beauties. :) Again, I got nothin’ against the purdy two inch blinds – it was just love at first installation of bamboo shades for me. ;)

So do you do bamboo? Or the classic blinds? Skinny slats or fat slats? Real or faux? Or are you a let it all hang out there person and you don’t cover your windows at all?

You nekked window folks do know people look in your windows as they drive by to see what your house looks like inside, right? Hmmm…maybe that’s just me. ;)

While we’re looking at the windows around our house, let’s check out the view:

Oh yeah, that’s right, you can’t see outside, cause it’s like walking around in a freaking pool out there. A 98 degree pool. And you’re surprised I’m ready for fall?? :)

P.S. I believe I said “texture,” “warmth” and “shades” about 314 times. Go ahead and count.

Sarah, this is interesting stuff! I don't know why, but as I've gone about contemplating how to improve the windows around here (gosh, darnit, it's time for curtains!) I haven't even considered changing out the cheap VINYL blinds we have hanging in them!

Bamboo could be VERY cool. And, since the Manchild secretly hates most of what I do in the house (until I finish it, then he magically loves it...) I think bamboo blinds are one thing he would LOVE to see in here!

Thanks, babe.

Angie

ps. he doesn't magically love the finished projects. he magically loves that A) the project is done and cleaned up and B) I am happy. :-)

a question about these TDC, are they hung inside the window frame (It looks like that from your first pic) just wondering as we have some really odd size windows-and I can't find the right size bamboo shades. Can they be hung on the outside of the window, too?

I guess it's all about what floats your boat and what works in your home...we have 2" custom wood tone blinds in all our odd shaped windows and I would never change them, e.ver. Love them! Bamboo just wouldn't work in my decor. But they look super in yours!

I love the bamboo and think they might pop up in our next project. We don't have many blinds....instead we just have a lot drapes that get moved on a daily basis for privacy. But I am thinking about adding an additional layer for some pizazz.

And I totally feel you pain with the heat and humidity. Every morning I would wonder what the weather was like because you can't see out the window....but then I remember that it is August which just means more sun and more heat. No weather report required unfortunately. Sigh.

Your bamboo blinds look great! We have the wide white ones and I just love the ability to just tilt for more/less sun and privacy - I'm not an all open or all closed kind of gal, maybe because I'm one of those people who look into people's homes at night when I'm out for a walk! ; )

I used to do the plastic blinds back in the day, you know what I'm talking about. There were still some hunter green blinds in my daughter's room when we moved in here that I removed. I like the faux wood blinks as well but honestly, I don't have any blinds in my house right now because they are a pain in the arse to install. I'm much more of a curtains kind of girl. Hang a curtain rod and some panels and be done with it. I have been wanting to install some bamboo shades in my dining room but my cheapness always prevails and I don't buy them. All of your bamboo shades look great!

We installed blinds in almost every room of our house too- and now I'm second guessing- BUT we just moved in so there will be no replacing for a while. I guess I felt like I had to decide quickly so blinds are what we went with- we're doing shutters in the master bed and bath- they take 8 weeks to complete:( I love your bamboos. They look awesome.

Your windows all look so beautiful! I love bamboo shades, too and that's what we put up in all our windows when we moved in three years ago. To solve the light and privacy issue my solution was to hang those vinyl roller blinds behind the bamboo shades. When they are rolled up you can't even see them from the outside because they are tucked so high into the window frame. And when you pull them down all you see from the outside is plain white. Now we can have the roller blinds up and the bamboo down to get filtered light, or have them both down for total darkness, or both up for direct light--win, win, win!

What's funny, is my daddy-o has been helping me install the bamboo all around the house...he's a blind guy himself (though he can see) but he's comin' around on the loverly bamboo :) love those different shades :D

In our new place we have both (with two types of slat blinds). I have to say I prefer the wooden slat blinds. We have the bamboo in our bedroom, a woven one, and you can see clean through it with the light on. Don't like that AT ALL! Also if you come out the bathroom and forget to put the blind down it's a bit of a pain.Our are pretty much permanently down.I didn't know you could get liners though will look into that in England.

I really like the bamboo and think I will put them in our master bedroom makeover. We only have blinds in the bedrooms and master bathroom. We live on 14 acres and the position of our house with the trees keeps the sun from shining in the windows much so there is no need on the rest of the windows. I do like how they warmed up the space even more. I think I have told you how much I love your home and the colors!

In the 2nd to last photo, did you turn the drapes upside down? They look great either way but I thought that was a clever change!

What a timely post! We just moved into our new home last week, and I've been fretting over window treatments ever since. I have just thrown some of those cheap Ready Shades until I can decide. Ugh...still can't decide. My hubby likes the cordless cellular shades. He hasn't had a decorating opinion in 13 years of marriage...until now. Fantastic. I did score some beautiful bamboo shades on clearance from Lowe's (and the privacy liners were also marked down %50). So, I'm definitely doing the bamboo in our family room. Your windows look great!!! Thanks so much for all the inspiration.

I love bamboo shades too and have them all over my house. I got mine at JCPenney from the catalog - they were very inexpensive, and you can always, always find a coupon for JCP. And, they have odd sizes, which was great since my house is almost 100 years old.

I love the look of bamboo shades and have them in several rooms. The only thing I don't like is the look from the exterior. I replaced the blinds in my dining room with a bamboo shade and love it, but am bothered that the other windows on the front of the house have blinds, so it's not a uniform look. I'd replace them too, but two are in the garage. The dreaded, cluttered, not safe for human eyes garage. It needs all the privacy it can get. What do you think about having different treatments in the front facing windows??

My main reason for commenting, though, is my three-year-old is sitting in my lap with me as I look at your site. He commented a few times. "Beautiful chairs! More beautiful chairs! Beautiful rugs (he meant curtains) on those windows!" You have a fan. :-)

I installed bamboo shades in my upstairs bedroom windows last fall & solved the privacy issue by lining it with fabric. The shades are med-dark brown Kmart shades (CHEAP), and I bought equally cheap dark brown thickish fabric, and hot glued it to the back of the blinds. I picked a strip of bamboo every 6" or so, and applied a bead of hot glue, bop the fabric down, and ta-da! Privacy! You could totally see through them before, now the room is pitch black in the middle of the day if the shades are down. Love.

I am a 2" faux white kinda girl. I looooove to see outside during the day (spring, summer ) with them all of the way open, but definitely close at night for privacy...Your bamboo shades have piqued my interest though, into the kiddos rooms..They seem to say the same as your's ( It's still light outside ) I do love the warmth that they add to your rooms, just what I would want in the winter months. Don't care to look outside at the dreary weather. I think the bamboo would set the mood to grab a good book and cuddle up with a blanket.. All warm and cozy! Thanks for sharing!

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - THANK YOU! You have just addressed my design issue with my Master Bedroom windows!!!!! When we moved into our home nearly two years ago the beautiful antique curtains were left by the previous owner. The bedrooms ALL have the cream/antique white with battenburg lace...we have a Brown County Stone home and the bedroom windows are wide and skinny (not sure of the exact measurements :) )

I have searched and searched - so your post this morning was a "light bulb" moment for me!

Ok - one last thing - I live in Central Indiana - and I am in LURVE with your blog - ideas and humor! I will try NOT to stalk you.

Ok, SOLD!!!!I've wondered about the bamboo blinds - i LOVE them! I like the dark one's the best! I'm definietly going to check some of these out! I have a problem with the windows in my breakfast nook area. There is one BIG windown and 2 NARROW windows beside it! As in 12 inches! It is IMPOSSIBLE to find blinds for it!

I found the shade of the bamboo blinds that you got from Target, at Kmart last year for 3 to 5 dollars each, depending on the size. It was heaven, such an awesome break from the previous $30per blind. I just wish I got more :), even though all of our windows are now bamboo.

Glad you did this post. We've been redoing the boys' rooms this summer and are getting ready to paint Noah's. He has cheap pull down shades that are great at blocking light but the are in crappy shape and won't match. I've been debating what to do. I will check these out-they would look good in there. Didn't know about those liners either. Might need those in my oldests room

When I moved into my condo almost 2 years ago, I LOVED the bamboo blinds. Now, I am getting ready to change them to traditional dark wood "slat" blinds. I hate that I have to either have the blinds all the way up to see out or let more light in! We live on the second floor and I like to overlook the pretty courtyard at night - to do so, I have to pull up the bamboo blinds on the big window in our living room. This means that all of the neighbors can see straight in. I love the look of bamboo blinds, but for me they are really inconvenient.

When I moved into my condo almost 2 years ago, I LOVED the bamboo blinds. Now, I am getting ready to change them to traditional dark wood "slat" blinds. I hate that I have to either have the blinds all the way up to see out or let more light in! We live on the second floor and I like to overlook the pretty courtyard at night - to do so, I have to pull up the bamboo blinds on the big window in our living room. This means that all of the neighbors can see straight in. I love the look of bamboo blinds, but for me they are really inconvenient.

I'm a bamboo shade kinda girl too.And we do have a few "nekkid" windows too. I've had a few friends/neighbors say they look forward to seeing our mantel lit up if they happen to be driving by at night, (and I love the thought of them being excited about that!), so I'm cool with a few treatment-less windows.

I love the look of bamboo blinds!! We currently have 2" faux wood, white blinds in every window of our house - it was a great selling point when we bought it 5 years ago - but now that I've had to clean them the past 5 years, not my fave. We live near a sod farm so the dust is ri-donk-u-lous!!! Throw in 2 large dogs and 2 cats and the blinds are impossible to keep clean. I'd love an option that wouldn't be such a dust collector.

When we were selling our home in Atlanta, our home stager suggested we replace mini-blinds with bamboo matchstick blinds. I couldn't believe what a wonderful difference it made in terms of adding warmth and texture to the rooms.

I had never thought about it before, but would it make any sense to occasionally swipe some mineral oil over the bamboo blinds? It works for my bamboo cutting board. Maybe it would keep it from drying out and becoming brittle from the sun? Random thought.

This was a great thing for me to read right now because we are JUST getting ready to buy some bambo shades for a couple of rooms. I've been out shopping and you're right...Target has zero now. :( Yours looks beautiful!

I had put these in my son's room and they worked out really nice. It's dark enough, they give a masculine feel and just look really good up or down. I got mine at Bed, Bath & Beyond, where I was surprised to find they had A LOT of sizes available and the price was good, too.

We have the same shades in our living your that you have in your dining room. I love them. We do have this issue with sun coming through our west facing windows though. I know the privacy shades are pretty spendy so I bought a couple of scrap pieces of black fabric from the clearance bin at Walmart. The plan is to hot glue them to the backs so we aren't blinded by the light every afternoon.

I installed light tortoise bamboo blinds on all first floor windows 4 years ago when I moved into my new home. I LOVE them. I wanted a bit more privacy, so I bought some lightweight tightly woven material, unthreaded the cords from the back, cut material to size, applied to shade with spray adhesive, recording as I wentand used staple gun at the top and bottom...works like a charm! Recently attached small decorative item (starfish) to the valance in downstairs bath using fishing line and it adds just the right touch!

We have the bamboo binds. I didn't want to shell out the extra $ for the privacy liners so I made my own. I only had to do it for the bedroom and I used brown fabric because I am OCD about the windows looking the same from the street! The sun has faded the outside of the blinds, but I stained them with outdoor stain so hopefully that will help.

We just recently bought our first home and there were zero window treatments left behind for us. We did over the whole house in bamboo blinds and LOVE it! Found the best deal and selection of sizes at Overstock. http://www.skooksplayground.com/2010/05/bamboo-shades-and-giveaways.html

Went to the fabric store and bought some lining fabric so I could privacy-up the windows. Still working on that project. :)

I do love my bamboo shades. I have wood blinds on some windows, too and have always thought they were a classic look. The thing I like better about the shades is that I can raise them all the way up during the day to let the sunshine in, whereas my blinds are too heavy.

I love this post!!! I wanted some but wasn't sure the appropriate place to mount them.. happy to see its over the top of the frame!! I am runnign this weekend to get some @ Home Depot for our bedroom that currently has NO Blinds -just a sheer & curtain- THANK YOU!!!!

I like them both - the bamboo shades are going in the areas of the house where there is moisture/tight spaces, like the kitchen and bathrooms. And, just to make things a little more fun, I let my boyfriend choose which to put in the guest bedroom/office. He chose bamboo :)

I "discovered" bamboo blinds/shades in 2003 and haven't looked back! My first pair, from Big Lots were $8, cheap plastic faux bamboo and looked cheap, but worked PERFECTAMUNDO on my laundry window. I then began to search for better blinds, and like you found Home Depot and Lowe's to be great sources. Love 'em!!

It was interesting to read everyone else's comments. I like the look of the bamboo, but I think blinds are more practical. I like being able to raise them to whatever height when I open the windows (we don't have central air, only window units, so I like to open the windows as much as possible when it's not too hot out). I also like to control how much people can see in. So they're what works for us right now. We have the faux white wood in our bedroom, but the cheap ones from Walmart in my boys' bedroom. I hate spending alot of money on window treatments, and they're not cheap!

I guess I'm somewhat behind the times on this one... I like the look of the natural materials, but I just got blinds installed, oh, two or three years ago and I'm not ready to replace them. However, I have a large picture window in my LR that everyone peeks in when they drive by, maybe I'll add some nice blinds there! I had matchstick blinds in my DR for years, but took them out because they faded so badly. Love your pics!

I love bamboo! The texture it brings is awesome! The price tag, not so much! I too many window to cover with them... and since I live in a rental...my husband who is normally very supportive of all things I do (big grin) vetoed the shades. I soo want them in my kitchen...they would look perfect, but unless God shows me a great deal for them...taint happening! For now, I have curtains, and a few nekked window (kitchen) and blankets (master bedroom) and roller blind (dd's room) we haven't been here that long! Thanks for sharing!

I've used them many times on clients homes and just love them. I don't have any in my own home because we have freakishly tall windows so they would all have to be custom. I like that they seem to go well with both casual and formal window treatments. All of yours look great :).

lol, your "wordery" is hilarious. :P i love the natural look of bamboo. i don't use it on windows because of the light issue and i'm so not at the place where i'd put up TWO blinds plus curtains... however, we have a bamboo floor mat at the front door. so durable, and inviting. they're just so darn earthy :)

When we moved into our house 2 yrs ago, the outside was cedar sided. White in the window looked terrible, so I got my bamboo/wood blinds from JCP. They were perfect and looked great from both the inside and outside. The inside great room has rough wood beams and mantel, so they compliment those too. Hopefully they'll hold up well because they are no longer carrying that perfect type, which was a perfect shade of brown and tightly woven to give complete privacy. Now our house is vinyl sided, but they still look great from the outside. LURVE THEM!!!

Bamboo shades look great hung in front of a window too, assuming you don't have molding around the window frame. If you don't have molding, the blinds can be hung on front (proud of) the window opening and it gives the window a finished look. Allow around 3 inches overlap on the sides. In other words, if your window opening is 62" wide, install 68" shades.

You can revitalize rattan and wicker with water. Depending on the piece and how dirty it is, you can wipe it with a damp cloth or hose it down with a garden hose or shower spray in a bath tub. Since bamboo is very similar, organic grass and all, you can probably clean and revitalize it in much the same way. Does anybody know of a product specifically made to revitalize bamboo?

Several people have mentioned that they have odd sized windows. Bamboo shades can be easily cut to size - even to a 12" width. Find the closest next larger size and have them cut to fit. Lowe's will cut them for you and other places might as well. It's worth asking. I cut my own using a hacksaw. Go slowly so you cut and not break the slats. Look at where the roller cords are along the top and make sure you stay clear of the strings. Some strings may have to be tied off and others re-tied to make it all work.

Ooooh I love the bamboo shades!! I've been searching for a while for another option to our vertical blinds and as much as I like curtains they don't work well with a cat who climbs =) They look gorgeous and I love all the different shades of wood you picked out for your house! Time to start some shopping...

Thank you for this post! I am like you in that I like the look of the bamboo shades.....on the INSIDE of our home. But one more "con" that I do not like is how they look from the outside. Our home is a cape cod with white vinly siding with black shutters. I do NOT like the way the bamboo blinds look at all from the outside. I have the bamboo shades in our bedroom, (which is on the front side of our home) then I still have the 2" white blinds in our living room (because they suit our decor better in there...and it's also on the front side or our home. But I hate the contrast of the two from the outside. Think I'll re-install the 2" blinds back in our bedroom.

I'm a nekked window type of person. I have lovely big windows on my 3rd floor condo surrounded by mature trees. It's like being in a tree house. I know people can still see in, I just don't care, although I do take care to stand back from the windows when getting undressed. They can see my nekked windows, just not my nekked body! It does feel a little cold in the winter time, though and I then long for some velvet or damask. Maybe I should do summer and winter drapes! Oh and now that I'm done talking about me ... I like your bamboo blinds. They look very cozy.

Hi Sarah!Hey, I think we have both been in our new homes about the same amount of time! We have a mix of wooven wood blinds (downstairs) and 2" white wood blinds upstairs. Just today I was out shopping to put bamboo in my daughter's room. Thanks for the tip on the privacy shade; I will look into those.I have a feeling putting up those bamboo blinds is going to be a lot easier than painting over the red walls in my dining room and study; yikes!

We do bamboo 2 inch slat blinds! A combination of bamboo and blinds, what is better than that! Still get the warmth and texture of bamboo but you do not have the all or nothing of the roman shades. I think we got ours at Lowes about 4 years ago and they are still in great condition. You do still have dust collect on the slats though :(

Perfect timing! I am eager to make some type of window coverings for my family room (almost 7 years) and also replace the faux wood blinds that are just dust collectors with bamboo. I did the same thing in my office and I am in love with the contrast it adds .. thanks for the tips and pics!

Hi there,Last year I put Bambo roll ups in my Gazebo, I love Em, Makes a nice cozy place for a cup of tea!, But however the sun has faded them so fast, Is there any way I can rejuvenate them and make them last longer? Thanks for any info......